One way to get familiar with any new place is to connect with its flora and fauna and people. In one sense, being in this village which has a population about 2000 people, is interesting. Most people stop to ask us, about our names, work and the home we live in. Of course, they recognize my parents and most of them would have something to say about either of them as both were teachers at the local schools.
What fascinates me is the wildly growing grass and plants all along the road and the irrigation canal that flows through our land. I am glad that there is less upkeep of this place, so in that we are left with these sights of plants and flowers, which no one cultivates, but is present there for us to behold. They are helpless when the gardener removes them thinking of it as a weed. However, they grow back in no time and flower again.
I sense one revealing aspect of the nature in this. The smallest plants and flowers are most resilient. Whether in summer or winter, they are there. They do not surrender to the schemes of those who tend gardens and fields. They are almost unsurmountable. That is why perhaps, Jesus of Nazareth in the parable of the wheat and tares, suggested to let the weeds grow, lest we disturb the wheat.
There are tares of corruption, that would need immediate attention, as it is taking place through the initiatives of the civil society in India today. But we are on a self defeating journey towards development, when we mechanize everything to be economical, displacing artisans, craftsmen, indigenous people and their way of life. We have replaced wild honey with farm honey, even in a village like mine.
Let me suggest that, we view many things as 'tares', where as they fulfill a purpose which can be most valuable. These flowers growing wild tell me, that the village panorama will be impoverished without such sights. Let us fight the 'tares' that harm humanity. Many' tares' we fight unnecessarily can be due to our short sightedness.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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